An eerily prescient expression of our current “sheltering in place” reality, Vivarium is a clever, deeply disturbing speculative fiction. Its stylized visuals and innovative special effects are icing on this cloying cake about living in close quarters and wondering what your life has become. The opening scene shows a mother bird feeding its young, more […]
Read more
Good intentions do not a good movie make. While the true story behind the World War II drama Resistance is inspiring, the film itself is meandering, bizarre, and ultimately underwhelming. Written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, Resistance begins in Germany circa 1938, where a young Jewish girl named Elsbeth (Game of Thrones scene-stealer Bella Ramsey) […]
Read more
With a Friend Like Harry (2000) is in essence a thriller, but it chills with the creeping dread of a horror film. This tightly-plotted, slightly surreal French production has unfortunately slipped gently into obscurity. Twenty years after its release, director Dominik Moll’s quietly chilling flick deserves another look. In a world where the wealthy seem […]
Read more
When considering your viewing options during an extended period stuck at home, a strange kind of freedom emerges. Usually weeknights and weekends are precious enough that when you’re deciding what to watch, you want to stick with known quantities, something familiar, or well-reviewed, or that had a wide release not too long ago. Anything outside […]
Read more
Every month, there are dozens of movies released to VOD and streaming that barely make a dent in the pop-culture consciousness, but represent an entire world of cinema just outside (or sometimes far outside) the mainstream. There’s a lot of trash on the fringes – but there are also undiscovered gems, so this column will […]
Read more
It’s October. The first trailer for a movie drops, and a journalist whom the studio provided free travel, dinner, and set visits proclaims it ‘The scariest movie since last year.’ All other press is embargoed until release day, when the film breaks some sort of new record for poor reviews. Three weeks later, no one […]
Read more
Blue Steel feels like an overlooked entry in Kathryn Bigelow’s filmography. It doesn’t have the online appeal of Point Break, from which Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze gifs populate Twitter timelines. It doesn’t have the history-making distinction of The Hurt Locker, for which Bigelow became the first and only woman to win the Best Director […]
Read more
The central metaphor of “zombie apocalypse” cinematic narratives is the “rising up” of beings signifying “The Other” and their aggressive urge to destroy people in their protected shelters (homes and businesses). Romero did this first, and did it best, even though he never really called these beings “zombies.” Night of the Living Dead (1968) was […]
Read more
Since the quick escalation of response to the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s become almost cliche to talk about what you’re streaming these days. However, the point remains: we’re all stuck inside right now. Finding something new and interesting (or at least diverting) to watch is one way to keep sane–and possibly away from the Social Media […]
Read more
The date was March 16, 1990. The L.A. Raiders announced their return to Oakland. Janet Jackson won big at the fourth annual Soul Train Awards. Roseanne and America’s Funniest Home Videos were topping television ratings, and The Hunt for Red October and House Party were packing the multiplex. And that Friday, two competing motion pictures […]
Read more
When you’re in this line of work, you’ll occasionally write a piece about how a film you’ve just seen connects to The Events of The Day, and sometimes it’s a bit of a stretch. And sometimes, the night before SXSW is cancelled because of the coronavirus, you go see a pre-festival screening of a movie […]
Read more
“So open up the window and let me breathe.I said open up the window, shh-shh-shh-shh-shh, and let me breathe.I’m looking down to the street below, Lord, I cried for you,Ha ha, I cried, I cried for you, ha ha. Oh, Lord. The cool room Lord, is a fool’s room.The cool room Lord, is a fool’s […]
Read more